Review of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,974,877 and 3,791,584 are owned by the assignee of this invention (Rain Jet Corp. of Burbank, Calif.) and describe adjustable shower heads which, in one state of adjustment thereof, produce a discharged water pattern of such a character that when the discharged water contacts the body of a user, a massage-like effect is sensed. (Shower heads according to the latter patent are manufactured and sold by Rain Jet Corp. under its model number RMS 200.) A brief examination of these prior patents will show that the structures of the shower heads described therein are relatively complicated and include moving parts. Because of the relative complexity of these prior shower heads, they are relatively expensive to manufacture and this fact is reflected in the ultimate selling price of the product. Also, because of their use of moving parts, these prior shower heads are sensitive to and gradually adversely affected by dissolved minerals and particulate matter, such as sand, in the water supplied to them; these gradual adverse effects are easily remediable by the user, but even infrequent need for service of the shower head by the user, who normally is unsophisticated and unappreciative of the complexities and unique advantages of the product, is an inconvenience.
The shower heads described in the two patents cited above produce unique discharge characteristics which have resulted in significant commercial success and user acceptance of these products. Because of the cost inherent in the manufacture of the prior shower heads, they are not directly competitive in the marketplace with other shower heads of more conventional design which do not produce the same unique discharge characteristics.
A need exists in the marketplace for a shower head which is of simple design productive of reduced manufacturing costs, and yet which provides discharge effects similar to the discharge effects obtainable by the shower heads constructed in accord with U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,974,877 and 3,791,584. Optimally, a lower cost shower head of this character has no moving parts other than the discharge modifying mechanism thereof, includes a minimum of machined components, and is simple to assemble.